How to memorize speech in less than an hour: 5 steps

Speaking in front of an audience can be frightening. By the way, scientists have discovered that logophobia, or fear of public appearances, is the most common phobia among Americans, outstripping even thanatophobia - the fear of death. As comedian Jerry Seinfeld noted, the average person attending a funeral will be better in a coffin than will read a panegyric. But speaking in public does not have to be so frightening, especially if you consider these steps, which will greatly simplify the task.

Step 1: Write a plan for your speech

Never write your speech verbatim and never try to remember it verbatim. It will sound trite and mechanical. And you need a speech that sounds natural. In addition, if you remember only key points, it gives you the freedom to say something spontaneous, which can be an excellent addition to your performance. The easiest way to write any words or short phrases that can remind you what you wanted to tell. Since this is your speech, these key points are all you need to stick to the thought. Thus, the first step is to prepare as if you are not going to use any memorization technique.

Step 2: Create mental images for each item

Next, you will need to come up with mental images for each of the items you recorded, because your mind remembers images much better than words.

Step 3: Create a "Memory Palace"

To remember something, you need a place to store data. The best method for this is Loki's method, with the help of which the "Memory Palace" is created. This technique has existed for more than two and a half thousand years, it is described in the books about Sherlock Holmes, and also it was used by Shakespeare in his theater. You need to represent what you need to remember on the furniture in your house. You will need about twenty minutes to build the "Memory Palace", that is, to choose the furniture that you would like to use for this technique. But as soon as you master this technique, you can use the "Memory Palace" for the most diverse things in your life. Become in the doorway of a room or office and, starting from the left, give numbers from one to five to any pieces of furniture. If this is not enough, go to the next room and number five more items - six to ten.

Step 4: Visualize

Now you need to connect the images that you have chosen for each of your key items, with the furniture numbered by you in the previous step. But when you do this, you need to think in parallel about the smells, tastes, sounds and feelings that you associate with a specific image for a specific piece of furniture. The more actions and emotions you can imagine, the better. Do this for all the key points, from the first to the last. This is how you can perfectly remember everything, but you need to really see the images in combination with the furniture. The more obvious you can make images (adding sounds of water, taste of food, the smell of grass, the feeling of warmth from fire and so on), the better you will be able to remember. And when you give a speech, you just need to imagine a room in front of you - and calmly start talking without having to look at any papers.

Step 5: remember and practice

You need to remember pieces of furniture with images time after time, until you learn them by heart. Make a speech in front of the mirror at least once to make sure that your images are working and you will be enough. Once you master this technique, you will be able to make a speech that can last for hours without using any records at all. You can use the presentation as a visual aid, but they will no longer be a vital necessity for you.